Witnesses: Commissioned, Sent, and Empowered

Witnesses: Commissioned, Sent, and Empowered

Dave Riddle - 4/21/2024

Key Passages: Luke 24:47-48, John 20:21, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8

You will be my witnesses

- Luke 24:47-48

- To all the nations

- Acts 1:8

- To the ends of the earth

Commissioned and Sent

- John 20:21

- As the Father sent me, so I am sending you!

- Matthew 28:18-20

- Go, therefore, and make disciples

Empowered by God

- He provides us with His own power.

- Luke 24:49

- Acts 1:4-5

- John 20:22

Until He Comes Again

- 1 Thessalonians 4:16

He’s Still Here

- Matthew 28:20

- I am with you always, even til the end of the age

We His People - We Become

We His People - We Become

Dave Riddle - 9/17/2023

Key Passage: Philippians 2:5

Spiritual Formation/Development

- “The process of being formed in the image of Christ…” – M Robert Mulholland Jr. - Invitation to a Journey

- Luke 6:40

- We should be becoming more like Jesus.

- Matthew 28:19-20

- We should be forming others to be more like Jesus.

- Teaching for transformation, not just information.

Imitators of Christ

- John 14:15 - If you love me, keep my commands.

- 1 John 2:4-6

- …walk just as Jesus walked.

- 1 Peter 2:21

- Ephesians 5:1-2 - be imitators of God

- 1 Corinthians 11:1 - imitate me as I imitate Christ

- Galatians 2:20a

- …I no longer live but Christ lives in me.

Belonging and Becoming are intrinsically tied together

- We are meant to walk and grow together.

How do we do this?

Philippians 1:6

- God is at work in you!

- Surrender, listen to the Holy Sprit

- Walk with brothers and sisters in Christ

Hebrews 12:1-3

- Jesus starts and finishes the work

- Our job? Throw off all the weight that entangles us.

2 Corinthians 3:18

- be transformed

Galatians 5 - Fruit of the Spirit

- are you filled with these things?

- Are you growing in them?

“The process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others” – M Robert Mulholland Jr. - Invitation to a Journey

If we aren’t becoming more like Jesus, what’s the point?

- “the church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that… [it’s] simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.”

- CS Lewis

What is God's Will For My Life?

Message Begins at 37:00

What is God’s Will for my life

Jordan Baker - 6/4/2023

Key Passage: Matthew 22:36-40

Remain in God’s Presence and Follow His Leading

• Exodus 13:17 - Pillars of cloud and fire

• Numbers 9:15-17, 22-23 - They camped at the Lord’s command and they set out at the Lord’s command

• God’s people don’t have to worry about when and where to move if we are firmly planted in his presence.

• “where is the shade?”

What does this actually look like in our lives?

• Matthew 28:18-20

• Make Disciples

• A Disciple is one who:

• Loves Jesus

• Follows Jesus

• Is Being Changed By Jesus

• Is On Mission With Jesus

• Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.

• 1,500 unique commands in the Bible.

• They all depend on…

Love God and Love Others

• Matthew 22:36-40

• Every command exists to help you love God, love others, or both.

“Throughout history, one's calling has often been narrowly defined as an occupation or a status in life… As a result, we often think: "Whatever my calling was, I think I may have missed it." Or, "I'm not trained. I'm just a regular person." Or, "I'm just working, waiting for my true calling to reveal itself." Scripture teaches, however, that every Christian is called by God at conversion. And that calling encompasses the whole of our lives. Recovering this truth revolutionizes how we understand our role--in the workplace and in the world-as men and women sent by Jesus to embody his love.” Pete Scazzero Emotionally Healthy Relationships Day by Day

Know God and Make Him Known, Together.

• Love God… Love Others - Matthew 22:36-40

• We love God by being in relationship with Him and knowing Him intimately.

• We love others by demonstrating Christlikeness to them.

• And we do these things together, because this is a calling for all believers.

Up, In, & Out

• How is your relationship with God? - this is Your UP relationship

• How is your relationship with Other believers? - Your IN relationship

• And Your OUT relationship - How are you proclaiming gospel truth, not just through your actions, but also through your words to the people in your life who don’t know Jesus?

• How will your next decision affect your ability to Love God and Love Others while walking side-by-side with Other Believers? 

What is God’s Will for my life?

• How am I loving God and loving others in this season of life?

• How am I knowing God and making Him known Together with other believers?

• How am I balancing my Up, In, and Out relationships?

All of those questions are just different ways of saying “how can I remain in God’s presence and follow his leading” in my life today.

What’s the point of Baptism?

What’s the point of Baptism?

Dave Riddle - 5/21/2023

Key Passage: Romans 6:3-11

John the Baptister 

• Jewish ritual purification based on laws from Leviticus.

• John took it a step further. He required people to repent. Turn from sin. Turn towards God.

Jesus makes a local phenomenon a global one

• Matthew 28:19

• An imperative to make, baptize, and teach disciples.

Why Immersion?

• The grammar says so

• baptizo (Greek: βαπτίζω) - to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of sunken vessels); to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe.

• Clarity from a recipe for Pickles

• It’s consistent with what we see in the New Testament.

Baptism is…

An Identifier

• It is open identification with Jesus and his death

• Romans 6:3

Impactful

• A picture of the impact of Jesus’ transformative work in our loves.

• Romans 6:6-8

Sufficient

• Baptism displays the sufficiency of Jesus’ Sacrifice

• Romans 6:9-10

• 1 Peter 3:18

A Reminder

• It reminds each believer of the call to follow Jesus.

• Romans 6:11

• Galatians 2:20

Missions Emphasis Week - A Love for Jesus

Missions Emphasis Week - A Love for Jesus

10/9/2022 - Micah Williams

Key Passage: John 14:23-24

A love for Jesus looks like a love for the marginalized

• Matthew 25:31-40

  • Hungry, thirsty, naked, imprisoned, strangers

  • Do we see those who are on the margins?

  • What if it was Jesus in need?

A love for Jesus looks like a love for the lost

• Matthew 28:19-20

• Mark 16:15-16

  • The gospel is good news.

    • Not everybody knows the good news.

    • The vast majority of people we brush shoulders with do not know Jesus.

A love for Jesus looks like a commitment to living missionally  

• Romans 10:13-17

  • We have to tell others.

  • They won’t hear unless somebody says something.

  • How do you spend your time and your money?

Set your sights on eternity 

• Revelation 19:6-7

The Bible - Know it. Love it. Live it.

House Rules - Bible

Dave Riddle - 9/25/2022

Key Passage: 2 Timothy 3:15-17

Bible Engagement

• Learning to know, love, and follow the teaching of scripture.

Originates with God Himself

• All scripture is inspired by God

  • 2 Timothy 3:16

  • “All scripture is God-breathed”

• 2 Peter 1:20-21

God’s Word and Truth

• John 17:17

  • God’s Word = Truth

The Design For Our Lives

• Hebrews 4:12

  • God’s Word = Living, effective, able to judge our thoughts and intentions.

• Psalm 119:7, 9, 33, 36-37, 104-105, 160

  • The impact of God’s Word on our lives.

The Way of Salvation

• 2 Timothy 3:15

  • Scripture reveals the way of salvation.

Equips God’s People

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17

  • …So that the righteous person may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

Know it so you can Share it

• Matthew 28:19-20

• Acts 17:11-12 - The Bereans

  • Eagerness

  • Examination

Know it. Love it. Live it.

• James 1:22-25

  • Not just hearers, but doers.

House Rules

House Rules

Dave Riddle - 9/18/2022

Key Passage: Ephesians 2:19

We are a family!

• Ephesians 2:19

  • …members of God’s household

  • oikos (Greek: οἶκος) - an inhabited house, a physical dwelling place. Also, the inhabitants of a house, all the persons forming one family - a household.

• Galatians 6:10

  • …do good to everyone, but especially to the family of God.

• 1 Timothy 3:15

  • God’s household=the church

• 1 Peter 2:4-5

  • A spiritual house

• Hebrews 10:19-21

  • Jesus is the head of our family

Gospel of Jesus – Priority 1!

• Romans 1:16

  • The gospel is the power of God that brings salvation!

• 1 Corinthians 9:16

  • Sharing the gospel is a necessity.

  • …Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.

God’s Greatest Commands

• Mark 12:29-31

  • Love God

  • Love People

God’s Great Commission

• Matthew 28:19-20

  • Make disciples, baptize, teach.

Genuine Discipleship

• Luke 9:23 - Follow me

  • Be on the same road

• Galatians 2:20 - crucified with Christ

  • We no longer live, but Christ lives in us!

Targeted Spiritual Development

• Luke 6:40

  • We should become more like Jesus

• 1 Timothy 1:5

  • The goal of our instruction is love.

The Word of God- Our Way of Life

• 2 Timothy 3:15-17

  • The Word changes us and equips us.

Our Upside Down Mission

Message begins around 35 minutes

Our Upside Down Mission

Dave Riddle • 04/03/2022

Key Passage: Matthew 4:19

Our God is both Sent and Sender

• John 3:16-17

• John 17:1-4, 18

• John 20:21

Jesus followers are “sent ones”

• Matthew 4:19

  • A challenge and a new identity

• Mark 3:14

  • Why? To send them out.

  • Not to continue living their lives the same way they were before.

    • We say we believe… but we live like universalists.

• Do we see ourselves as “sent ones”?

  • To whom are you sent?

What does this calling look like?

• Matthew 28:18-20

  • Salt and light

• Acts 1:18

  • You will receive power…

  • You will be my witnesses…

• Matthew 28:19

  • Therefore go and make disciples…

• 2 Corinthians 5:20

  • We are Christ’s Ambassadors

Our Content and Our Conduct

• both must be in line with God’s calling for our life.

• We can stand for everything that’s true, but does our conduct repel people before they can hear our words?

• Philippians 2:14-16

  • Blameless, pure, faultless…

    • A high calling!

  • Hold firm to the word of life and hold it out to the world.

Hearts for Redemption and Restoration

• We are citizens of God right now… But it’s not yet fully realized

  • An “Already… not yet” reality.

  • Citizen of the Kingdom of God should be our primary identity here on earth.

• Revelation 21:5

Why Family on Mission?

Why Family on Mission?

6/13/21 - Dave Riddle 

Key passages: 1 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 28:18-20

We use the word family because it’s biblical.

Family = oikos (Greek: οἶκος) - an inhabited house, a physical dwelling place. Also, the inhabitants of a house, all the persons forming one family - a household. 

• 1 Timothy 3:15 - we are the household of God.

• The church is called “brother and sisters” over 20 times in the book of Acts alone!

What is our mission?

• Matthew 28:18-20 - The great commission. Go make disciples…

• Disciple = mathetes (Greek: μαθητής) - pupil/learner/student - a disciple. In the New Testament, a disciple is one who not only learns, but accepts and adverse to the instruction given to them, making it their personal everyday way of living .

• Teaching them = didaskō (Greek: διδάσκω) - teaching with the purpose of transformation.

• Acts 1:8

• “The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that [everything else is] simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.” CS Lewis

• Luke 6:40

Helping People Follow Jesus Together

1. UP

   • Living in right relationship with the Father.

     • Jesus prioritized his relationship with his Father.

2. IN

   • Living in right relationship with our church family.

     • You can’t walk in obedience with the will of God if you aren’t walking in right relationship with your brothers and sisters.

3. OUT

   • Living on mission to reach the world.

     • We are ambassadors, as if God was making his appeal through us!

Why Baptism?

Why Baptism?

Dave Riddle - Baptism Sunday 5/2/21

Key passage: Matthew 28:19-20

Why do we baptise?

• It’s a Perfect Picture

• Dead to sin (dunked) raised to new life in Christ (raised out of the water)

  • Romans 6:4

Why Immersion?

• Seems to be the regular practice in the New Testament and Apostolic Age.

• It’s consistent with what baptism symbolizes.

  • baptizo (Greek: βαπτίζω) - to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of sunken vessels); to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe.

  • Pickle recipe from 200BC

    • The immersion leads to a permanent change of the vegetable.

• It’s about identification

  • Romans 6:3-4

• It’s a public declaration faith

  • What are we declaring?

    • 1 Peter 3:8

      • What we believe about Jesus

    • 2 Corinthians 5:17

      • What we believe about ourselves. Made new!

  • Who should be baptized?

    • Acts 2:38 - Repent and be baptized...

    • Philip and the Ethiopian

    • Baptism follows salvation.

• It’s a Reminder of Who We Are in Jesus

  • Romans 6:6-7

  • Romans 6:11

  • Galatians 2:20 - ...it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me

Mothers Day 2020

Like a Mother, Our God is...

Life-Giving

• Genesis 2:7

Loving & Providing

• Isaiah 49:14-15

• Matthew 28:20

Gentle & Comforting

• Isaiah 66:13

• 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Ferocious & Intense

• Hosea 13:8

Compassionate & Invested

• Luke 13:34

• Matthew 9:36

God’s Household

A Family on Mission - God’s Household

Dave Riddle - 06/09/19

Key Passages: 1 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 6:40

Our mission: Helping People Follow Jesus Together!

• A family on mission!

1 Timothy 3:15 - ... I have written so that you will know how people ought to act in God’s household, which is the church of the living God,  the pillar and foundation of the truth.

• Household = oikos (Greek: οἶκος) - an inhabited house, a physical dwelling place. Also, the inhabitants of a house, all the persons forming one family - a household. 

  • In the New Testament: the family of God: Where God has made his home. Us!

Matthew 28:18-20 - Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 Go, therefore, and make disciples  of  all nations,  baptizing  them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,  I am with you always,  to the end of the age.” 

• Disciples = mathēteuō (Greek: μαθητεύω) -  to be a disciple of another, or to make someone a disciple. 

• mathetes (Greek: μαθητής) - pupil/leaner/student - a disciple. In the New Testament, a disciple is one who not only learns, but accepts and adverse to the instruction given to them, making it their personal everyday way of living .

Luke 6:40 - A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

• we are called to become like Jesus and help others become like Him too!

Three-Dimensional Discipleship 

1. Up (Father)

   • Reconnect with our Father God through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. 

2. In (Family)

   • We are connected. We can’t do this apart from our brothers and sisters. United in Christ. 

3. Out (World)

   • Salt and light, ambassadors and witnesses to the world! We exist to reach out into the world to see them become like Jesus too!

Easter Sunday 2019 - The Last Enemy

He Set His Face - The Last Enemy

Dave Riddle - 04/21/19

Key Passage: Matthew 28:1-10, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 42-45

Luke 9:51 - When the days were coming to a close for Him to be taken up, He resolutely set His face towards Jerusalem. 

• Resolute: purposefully unwavering or determined.

Victory Over Death’s Defeat

• 1 Corinthians 15:3

Victory Over Sin’s Domination

• 1 Corinthians 15:3

It Displays the Power to Make a Comeback

• 1 Corinthians 15:4

• 1 Corinthians 15:43

It Shows the Reach of God’s Grace

• 1 Corinthians 15:45